Photonics Dictionary

A thin-film device containing miniature optical components connected via optical waveguides on a transparent dielectric substrate, whose lenses, detectors, filters, couplers and so forth perform...

A technique used in integrated optics where a groove is cut on a substrate surface and covered by a thin film to facilitate the construction of filters, resonators, beamsplitters and grating couplers...

An optical switch that controls conduction paths into and out of a junction in fiber optic and integrated optical circuits.

A method used in integrated optics; formed by growing an epitaxial layer of active material, removing it from its base and splicing it onto a passive substrate.

An optical circuit, either monolithic or hybrid, composed of active and passive components, used for coupling between optoelectronic devices and providing signal processing functions.

Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level. These components are miniaturized optical elements that manipulate light at a...

Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free electrons in a metal or semiconductor at the nanoscale. Specifically,...

An instrument that measures the angle at which a prism can couple laser light into an optical waveguide; used to determine the thickness and refractive index of thin films in integrated optical...

A V-shaped channel pressed or etched into a substrate, in which, for example, optical fibers may be placed to create an integrated optical component.